Oregon Natural Forestry

Evaluating is about decisions. When you have satisfied yourself that you have asked enough, then comes the evaluation. It is not that much difference than seeking advice from a physician for a medical question, there are always at least two choices to take the advice or not take the advice.  Each has a set of consequences associated with them.  For instance doing a thinning under certain forest conditions will result in the remaining trees virtually falling down or bending over like a wet noodle.  If that same thinning had happened earlier in the trees’ lives you probably would have had a more resilient forest. You can do research for yourself about what should be done, if anything.  Again using a medical example, knowing the signs of a heart attack are important and then a decision do nothing, or seek help.  Trees grow faster than you think, but like our bodies, a mistake can take a long time to heal. Evaluating is as much about the forest as who you ...

This, the first of a three part blog post, is about asking.  A classic definition of  a forest is an ecosystem dominated by trees, which can be really simplified into the trees you are looking at.  That is what you see on TV and in pictures.  Trees are big and beautiful but there is so much more, the entire ecosystem part. What about the soil and what is living in the soil?  What about plants other than trees and animals living there? What about how air (wind) passes through and over the area? What about the water, standing, flowing, below ground? What about a seasonal change cold and wet, hot and dry? Is there a wildfire risk?  Is your home near or within the forest?  Is what you are thinking about legal or a best (forest) management practice?  What about the tax consequences?  This list is just a little bit of what someone should be asking about when they make a decision to actively manage a forest. On the other hand it would not be ...

The quote “Make it a Beautiful Life” is credited as Nat Young’s, 1966 World Surfing Champion, personal mission statement.  With a change of one word, it is close to mine, “Make it a Beautiful Forest”.  Beauty is subjective, and hard to define when it comes to people or the natural environment. Change is constant. When it comes to a forest, like life, beauty has to be more than appearance there are connections, and growth and a synergy, apparent or felt.  A beautiful forest is probably something different to everyone and everything that looks at, lives in or is part of. Other thoughts credited to Nat Young: Give respect to gain respect. Whether it's towards a wave, a woman, or someone of a different race, you have to be respectful. This is even more important now, as there are more people surfing and more people on the planet. When it comes to the environment, we should all tread lightly. It's frightening that money can rule over what's being done to the environment. ...

It was all about fish and Coastal (Oregon) river conditions when I sat down at the Pelican Pub with Guido Rahr of the Wild Salmon Center.  Big trout in Siberia and the uniqueness of the Coastal rivers that flow through Tillamook County (Oregon) were the topics until almost organically the talk turned to trees and forests. They are, after all, where the Coastal rivers start. “A natural forest consists of elements” Rahr said, durability, arrangement, time, and understanding. Arrangement, foresters might call them gaps, skips, stands, types but from a fish perspective it’s durable, harvest, mosaic and a Fish and Wildlife Service construct, a Habitat Conservation Plan.  Understanding, as a different way of thinking about or defining place. Acknowledging that each “place” is different and has it’s own statement of how, a unique set of values, it contributes to the whole. Time, not the next click, tomorrow, or next year but looking out to 2060-2070.  A view into the futu...